


Come Little Children (The Time's Come to Play)

by hufflepuffkaspbrak



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Angst, F/M, Halloween, Horror, M/M, Ouija Board, Possession, stanlon is the main relationship, them and bill are the main characters i guess
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-29
Updated: 2018-10-29
Packaged: 2019-08-09 16:47:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16453670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hufflepuffkaspbrak/pseuds/hufflepuffkaspbrak
Summary: Bill Denbrough is still drowning in guilt from the murder of his brother nearly six years ago. Desperate to get over him and to have some fun with his friends, he suggests using a Ouija board. None of the seven friends anticipate summoning something that is most definitely not Georgie Denbrough.





	Come Little Children (The Time's Come to Play)

Derry had never been considered a particularly safe town. From the time the town settled in the early 18th century, they had experienced their fair share of hardships and unfortunate circumstances. There was a cult that had made its way in, recruited a decent number of followers, and subsequently had committed mass suicide. There was a criminal coming up from New York City in an attempt to escape police capture who had driven through the town so quickly that he had ran over a child, it ended in a police shootout that left three civilian hostages dead. There was an explosion of a factory that, although no cause had ever been found, the citizens of Derry were convinced was an act of terrorism.

Most recently, though, there had been a serial killer. He preyed on children, mostly elementary school aged. He would lure them in with his charismatic face and soft smile, promising them candy if they’d help him find his dog. The minute they stepped foot into his car, they were done for. They always appeared a week later, in a body of water, missing a single, random limb, and a smile carved somewhere on their body. Georgie Denbrough, a young boy of six, had been one of the first victims. 

Bill, Georgie’s brother, knew all too well the burden of guilt. Even nearly six years after the event took place, he still woke up with nightmares, his imagination creatively filling in what Georgie had experienced in the time leading up to his death. Bill hadn’t gone outside to play with him, instead waving goodbye to him from the window, and had never seen him alive again.

This led to him currently sitting on a blanket in the middle of the forest on a Friday night, his six best friends around him, all of them circled around the Ouija board he had placed in the middle.

“You wanna do what?” Eddie Kaspbrak asked.

“It’s October first, I wanna play with a Ouija board to start the Halloween season off right.” Bill answered.

“And do what with it, you wanna contact the ghosts of all the people who’ve died in this shithole?” Stan Uris interjected.

“I mean, that’s what these things do, don’t they?” Bill said.

His friends were quiet for a moment before Richie Tozier cursed under his breath.

“You don’t wanna try to talk to…Georgie, do you?” He asked and grimaced.

The rest of them erupted into protests.

“Oh, god, Bill, no!”

“Please, tell me that’s not what this is about.”

“For fuck’s sake.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Shut up!” Bill yelled, and they quieted down. “I just want to talk to do something fun, but, whatever if you guys are gonna be this way, forget it.” He leaned over and harshly picked up the board and the planchette from the blanket. He shoved them into his bag and stood up, not saying a word.

“Bill, wait!” Someone shouted after him, but he continued to walk into the forest. It was nighttime and if he was thinking, he would pull out the flashlight he had with him, but he wasn’t going to show any weakness, instead plunging himself into the darkness. He couldn’t see anything around him when a hand grabbed his shoulder.

“Stop.” Richie’s voice was the only thing telling Bill he was there, the darkness so thick he couldn’t see an inch in front of him.

“I’m leaving.”

“First of all, you can’t see shit out here, the only place you’re going is straight into a tree.” Richie said and with a click, light from the flashlight in Richie’s hand flooded the two of them. “See?” He pointed out the tree mere inches from Bill’s face.

Bill scoffed. “Whatever.”

“Cut it with the attitude.” Richie shoved his shoulder lightly. “We don’t need your angst right now.”

“I’m still leaving.”

“Dude, chill the fuck out. We were just taken by surprise, okay?” Richie pulled him away from the tree, closer to where the rest of their friends were. “You pull out a damn Ouija board without warning and tell us you wanna talk to ghosts.”

“I just thought it would be fun for Halloween.” Bill muttered.

“Are you sure it has nothing to do with Georgie?”

Bill swallowed hard. “I promise. It’s been 6 years, Richie. I’m passed the point of bargaining.”

“Well then let’s summon some ghosts.” Richie swung an arm around Bill’s shoulder, pulling him towards the little patch of light that was their blanket, surrounded by lanterns.

“You okay?” Mike Hanlon asked as they sat down.

“Yeah, sorry.” Bill said sheepishly.

“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m down for a séance.” Beverly Marsh spoke with a smirk gracing her face, leaning back on her hands.

“It’s not a séance. It’s a game.” Stan rolled his eyes.

“Uh, yeah, it is.” Bev replied. “It’s contacting the dead, which is the literal definition of a séance.”

Bill pulled the board and planchette back out of his bag and placed them in front of him as Stan and Bev continued to bicker. He placed the planchette so it was on a spot without any letters, a good place to start.

“Are we sure about this?” Ben Hanscom asked, his voice laced with anxiety.

“It’ll be okay.” Bev immediately stopped her arguing and leaned over to kiss her boyfriend on the cheek. “I’ll be with you.”

Ben blushed slightly, still not used to the overwhelming affection given to him by his girlfriend even after a year of dating. “Okay.” His voice was soft.

Bill looked around. Some of his friends seemed eager, some of them with a slightly nervousness noticeable on their features. Stan was tapping the fingers of his right hand against his thigh with a speed that was too quick to be simple fidgeting and in his left hand he firmly had a grip of his boyfriend’s hand. Mike sat, hugging his knees and Stan’s hand to his chest, but his eyes fixed to the board in curiosity. Bev had a bright smile on her face, threading her fingers in Ben’s hair to sooth his nerves. Richie’s eyes twinkled with excitement as he leaned his head on Eddie’s shoulder. Eddie was sitting criss crossed, back straight, blank expression on his face, and his arms crossed.

“What’s the matter, Eds?” Richie asked and was met with a scowl.

“This is stupid.” He responded. “It’s dangerous!”

“Not if we follow the rules.” Bill said.

“Rules? Those are made to be broken!” Richie laughed.

“Which are?” Eddie ignored Richie and gave Bill a spin of his fingers, signaling him to quickly go on.

“Well you aren’t supposed to play alone.”

“We’ve got that down.” Bev piped in.

“You can’t play on a graveyard.” Bill continued. “And you can’t take your fingers off the planchette before you say goodbye.”

“What’s a planchette?” Ben asked.

“It’s the thing in the middle of the board.” Bill answered and picked it up, handing it over to Ben so he can look at it. “We all put two fingers on it and do  _not_ move them until we’re done.”

“What happens if we break the rules?” Mike questioned.

“Nothing, it’s a game.” Stan replied.

“ _Actually_ ,” Bev leaned in. “If you break the rules, a lot of bad shit can happen. Like possessions and death and, you know, that fun stuff.”

“How do you know?” Richie looked over to her.

“I’ve dabbled in Ouija boards.” She shrugged, and Richie gave her a high five.

Eddie still had his arms crossed, eye squinted in skepticism. “I just don’t like the sound of this.”

“Then don’t play.” Bill said nonchalantly and took the planchette back from Ben, placing it back in its spot. “Everyone scoot in and sit around the board. You need to be able to reach it and touch the planchette.”

Six of them form a tight circle, leaving a spot between Stan and Richie for Eddie to easily fit into if he wanted. They all sat in with their legs crossed, hands waiting in their laps.

“Okay, I’m going to mostly ask questions, so we don’t overwhelm the ghosts.” Bill began to explain and took a pause when Stan scoffed at the word ‘ghosts’. “Does anyone have a specific question to ask or should we just go where it takes us?”

He looked around the circle, his friends looking down in concentration. He noticed Eddie had moved ever so slightly closer to the circle, still not in the space designated for him but nearing it.

“Why don’t we just see what happens.” Mike suggested and there’s murmurs of agreement. Eddie moved even closer.

Bill nodded. “Then I’m going to tell the spirits that we’re here and we’re respectful, and we’ll start, alright?” He took a deep breath and straightened his back. “Uh, hi? We’re all here to speak to whoever may be with us. We’re gonna be completely nice and we’re open to communication. Just, we mean you no harm and we hope you give us the same treatment.” Bill leaned forward and put his pointer finger and middle finger on the edge of the planchette. “You all do the same.”

One by one, they each put two fingers on the planchette, their fingers squished together as they tried to fit everyone’s on. Eddie waited a moment and, with a huff, leaned forward as well.

“No one move it on purpose, okay.” Bill made eye contact with everyone, stopping at Richie. “Okay?”

“Don’t call me out!” Richie exclaimed but Bill gave him a pointed look and he quickly quieted down.

The seven of them stayed silence for a minute, listening to the sound of the forest around them. The planchette stayed still in the center of the board.

“Is anyone here?” Bill asked.

Nothing.

“If someone is here with us, make yourself known.” He said.

Nothing.

“This is stupid.” Eddie muttered.

Suddenly, the planchette moved quickly.

H – E – L – L – O

“Shit.” Ben said under his breath, all their eyes fixed on the moving piece. “Did anyone do that?” They all shook their heads.

B – E – N – I – C – E

“It’s talking to you, Eds.” Richie said, and Eddie shoved him with his shoulder.

“Ask him what his name is.” Bev said to Bill.

I – T

“What’s that?” Bill asked.

The board repeated itself.

I – T

“Are you the only one here?”

The planchette hovered over the word ‘No’.

“Who else is here?”

G

Bill heard his friends all take sharp intakes of breath. “G?”

It circled the ‘G’ several times.

“Who is G?”

B – O – Y

Bill could feel his eyes stinging. He said he wasn’t going to do this.

“Don’t ask, Bill. It’s not him, it’s a trick.” Bev said.

He nodded in response.

“How’d you die?” Bill questioned.

D – I – D – N – T

“What?” Richie sputtered.

“Is this…It?” Bill felt weird referring to whatever they were talking to by simply ‘It’ and not by a name. “Or is this ‘G’?”

I – T – D – I – D – N – T

“I don’t like this.” Mike whispered.

“Did G?”

K – I – L – L – E – D

“Bill, I think we should end this soon.” Stan spoke for the first time since they started. He had beads of sweat dripping down his forehead, his hands shaky.

“How?” Bill ignored Stan and asked the board.

N – O – A – R – M

“Which one?” Bill was completely fixed on the board, tears welling up in his eyes.

“Bill!” Bev yelled.

R – I – G – H – T

“I’m going to leave.” Eddie said, feeling his throat getting tight. Stan and Mike made a noise of agreement.

“No!” Bev looked at them seriously. “Don’t move your fingers. Bill has to say goodbye.” She turned to him. “Say goodbye!”

“It’s Georgie.” Bill looked up. “I can’t.”

C – O – M – E – H – O – M – E

Bill felt cold.

P – L – E – A – S – E

“You can come home.” Bill told the board.

“Stop it.” Beverly said through gritted teeth. “Goodbye!” She spoke firmly to the board.

N – O

“ _Fucking_ hell.” Richie cursed.

H – O – M – E – H – O – M – E

“You can come home!” Bill exclaimed.

A bird cawed in the distance and one of their lanterns fell over, hitting the floor with a thud. Stan jumped, his fingers slipping off the planchette for a second. He quickly put them back, looking around to see if anyone saw his mistake. Everyone’s eyes were fixated on Bill, looks of concerned plastered on their faces.

“We’re done.” Mike seemed out of breath, the adrenaline pumping quickly through his system.

“Wait!” Bill protested. A gust of wind washed over them, the cold air going through their clothes and chilling them to the bone. “Can It bring you back, Georgie?”

“Goodbye!” Bev yelled again, this time forcing the planchette to move over the ‘Goodbye’ and circled it. It began to move quickly on its own accord, their fingers desperately trying to stay on it as it zipped across the board.

B – Y – E – B – I – L – L – Y

It then moved back to the ‘Goodbye’ and Beverly was the first one to retract her hand, the others quickly following and standing away from the board. Bill’s fingers stayed put on the planchette, his breath coming out in short pants, body not moving.

“What the actual fucking hell, William Denbrough!” Bev stood up, screaming louder than any of them had heard before. She pulled the board away from Bill.

“It was Georgie talking!” He looked up at her, equally as loud.

“You don’t know that!”

“Oh?” He stood up as well, towering over her with a height that would be intimidating to anyone but Beverly. She held herself in a way that made her height irrelevant. “It’s just another kid who was killed without an arm with a name that starts with a ‘G’?”

“It probably wasn’t a kid at all! You said you knew rules about this, so you should know not to go on and on trying to get your dead brother to come back home!”

“Shut up!” Bill yelled, taking a step towards her. Mike reached out and gripped Bill’s shoulder, trying to slow him down. “I’m sorry I want my dead little brother back, why don’t I kill someone you love and see how you like it!”

“You’re an idiot,” She hissed, clenching her fists. “If you think for a second that you could bring him home using something like a Ouija board. Was that your plan all along?”

“No, but when the opportunity arises, I’m not going to say no!”

Ben stepped between them. “Why don’t we calm down, okay? Before we say something we regret.”

Both Bill’s and Beverly’s faces were blood red, illuminated by the many lanterns they had around them.

“Bill very well could’ve just invited a fucking demon to live in his home.” She spat. “I’m burning this board.”

“That’s mine.” Bill reached forward to try to grab it. “I paid for it, you can’t do that.”

She stepped even further away from him, reaching down and picking up a lantern and swinging her own bag across her back. “I’m. Burning. It.” She repeated and turned away, walking from the group.

Ben let out a sigh, picking up his own things. “I’m going to make sure she’s okay. See you later, guys.”

Bill let out a loud groan of frustration, pulling his hair slightly.

Richie let out a long breath. “You said that wasn’t what this was about.”

“I know what I said.”

“You promised you were passed the point of bargaining.”

“I know what I said!” Bill repeated, harsher and louder this time. “And I’m going to tell you what I told Beverly. If my dead brother tries to speak to me, I’m not going to ignore him. Now fuck off!”

He grabbed his things and went off into the forest as well. Eddie, Richie, Stan, and Mike stayed where they were, watching Bill descend into the forest until only a little speck of light from his flashlight could be seen.

“You think he’ll be okay?” Mike asked.

“Give him the weekend to cool off.” Eddie replied. “I might go to his house tomorrow, just to make sure.”

“I’m sure he’ll be fine.” Stan said, grabbing a hold of Mike’s hand, lightly stroking it with his thumb. “ _But_ he was Mike’s and my ride home.”

“I’ve gotcha, don’t worry, I’m taking my sweet Eds home anyways.” Richie said, wrapping his arms around Eddie’s shoulders and bringing him into his chest. Eddie scoffed at the nickname but smiled brightly nonetheless.

“You really shouldn’t have said anything to Bill after Bev yelled at him so much, Rich.” Eddie looked up at his boyfriend from his spot against his body.

Richie shrugged. “Maybe. But he promised me when I ran after him that it wasn’t about Georgie.”

“Maybe it actually wasn’t.” Mike piped in. “Maybe he actually didn’t expect it and it caught him off guard.”

“That’s what I was thinking.” Eddie agreed, flashing Mike a smile before turning back to Richie. “Come with me tomorrow and apologize?”

“Anything for you, my love.” Richie said dramatically. Eddie rolled his eyes and leaned up to give him a light kiss.

They packed up their things, the blanket and many lanterns included, and set off into the night.

* * *

 

Eddie and Richie approached the Denbrough house hand in hand, the Halloween decorations had already been put up, most likely courtesy of Bill, who had always loved the holiday. Only Bill’s car sat in the driveway, both Mr. and Mrs. Denbrough must’ve been away. They let themselves in, knowing Bill was probably in his room, wallowing away and would refuse to come to the door even if they rang the doorbell for an hour. 

“What do you want?” Bill asked when the two of them walked into his room. “I don’t remember inviting you in.”

“We invited ourselves in.” Eddie answered and sat on the bed. “Richie has something he’d like to say.”

Richie leaned against the door, crossing his arms. Eddie and Bill both looked at him expectantly. “I’m sorry, I guess.”

“You guess?” Bill questioned.

Richie took a deep breath and pushed himself off the door, walking towards the bed. “I’m sorry. I can’t even begin to imagine what it’s like to lose a family member. I’m sure I wouldn’t give up a chance to talk to them either.”

Bill nodded. “Thanks.” He let out a sigh. “I deserved to be yelled at though, so I’m sorry, too.”

Eddie clapped his hands together quickly and lightly. “We’re all good now?” Bill and Richie nodded. “Now I’ve gotta fix the Bev and Bill situation.”

“I’ll say sorry to her, too.” Bill said quickly.

“Well, I think we need to give her some time to cool down also.” Eddie explained. “She seemed pretty…”

“Fired up.” Richie supplied and Eddie nodded in agreement.

“With good reason.” Bill said.

“What do you mean?” Richie sat on the bed as well.

“I’ve been doing some research and I think…” Richie and Eddie motioned for Bill to continue. “I think I might’ve fucked up.”

“How?”

Bill reached under his bed and pulled up a stack of books. “I got these earlier today, it’s a bunch of shit on contacting the dead and séances and witchcraft.”

“Fun.” Richie interjected but Eddie shushed him quickly.

“You’re not supposed to try to contact someone you know pretty much.” Bill flipped open one of the books, scanning the page quickly until he reached a section labelled  _Demons_. “They can trick you and do all sorts of things, make you believe you’re talking to someone who isn’t really there.”

“You’re saying that wasn’t Georgie last night?” Richie asked.

“I’m saying I don’t know. It could be him or it could’ve been something bigger.”

Eddie swallowed hard. He hadn’t wanted to use the Ouija board in the first place, and now he was being told they could’ve contacted a demon. “What do we do?”

“Hope none of us get possessed the Exorcist style.” Richie snorted and Eddie threw him a glare. “C’mon, it’s probably nothing. They sell Ouija boards in toy stores, Eds. Demon or Georgie, spirit or just Stan moving it around himself, I’m sure we’re fine.”

“Give me one of those books, Bill.” Eddie put his hands out and Bill gave him the one he had previously opened. “Have you read all of them?” Bill shook his head. “We’re gonna read them all then. Right now.”

“I’ve gotta go.” Richie said, standing up.

“I know for a fact you don’t have anything to do today.” Eddie said and picked up a book, tossing it at Richie. “You’re going to read.”

Richie let out a sigh but found a spot on the floor, leaning against the wall. “ _Modern Witchcraft_? Really?”

“Humor me, Rich.” Eddie said and Richie shook his head in disbelief, opening the book. Eddie looked at the cover of his, labelled  _Supernatural Practices_  and opened it to the relevant chapter.

_Extremely disapproved by Christian churches, Ouija boards are said to open up a connection to demons, spirits, and other supernatural entities. They create open communication and an invitation to the supernatural to live amongst humans or even to possess one. Other groups of people, such as those who regularly practice witchcraft and participate in occultist activities, believe that if done properly, people have nothing to be afraid of when using a Ouija board._

_Whether one, both, or neither of the groups are correct, it should be noted that Ouija boards should be handled with care. Despite its frequent location amongst board games and children’s toys, any sort of contact with the dead needs to be approached with caution. Don’t get involved with anything you do not understand_.

By the time they had finished reading all of Bill’s books, Eddie’s head was pounding and his stomach was in knots. The only thing he had managed to find were the rules Bev and Bill had told them, and to stay away from Ouija boards if you weren’t 100% sure what you were doing.

“Did you guys find anything?” He asked.

“Everything says not to contact people you know.” Richie said.

“I really fucked up, guys.” Bill slammed his book shut. “You sure as hell aren’t supposed to invite the spirit home.”

“Shit.” Eddie let himself fall back onto Bill’s bed.

“Let’s just hope for the best.” Richie stood up from his spot on the floor, pulling Eddie up and hugging him into his chest. “We don’t live in a shitty horror movie, things like ghosts and demons don’t mess with normal people like us.”

“It wouldn’t be the weirdest thing Derry has seen.” Bill said. The sound of the front door slamming shut rang through the house. “Mom and Dad must be home.”

“We’ll head out if you want.” Eddie said and Richie made a hum of agreement.

“No, no, it’s fine. Maybe you guys can stay for dinner.” Bill waved his hand dismissively. “We can go see what they’re making.” He opened his bedroom door and stepped out, yelling down the stairs as he walked down. “Hey Mom, hey Dad!”

Richie and Eddie followed him down.

“Mom? Dad?” Bill yelled again when he didn’t get an answer, now at the bottom of the staircase and looking around the corner at the front door. “Hello!”

The three of them looked around the room, Bill even opened the front door and looked outside.

“That’s weird.” Richie muttered.

“I could’ve sworn I heard the door.” Bill said and shook his head. “I must be going crazy.”

“It’s the whole Ouija nonsense, it’s just getting to our heads.” Richie gave him a sympathetic smile. “Especially after spending  _hours_ reading.”

“It’s useful information!” Eddie protested.

Richie threw his hands up defensively. “I didn’t say it wasn’t.” Eddie relaxed. “But it’s all swimmin’ in our heads right now. I’m sure it’ll all blow over. We just gotta calm down.”

“Yeah, of course.” Bill sat down on the couch. “It’ll blow over.”

* * *

Stan took a deep breath. “I have to tell you something.”

Mike looked up from his work, currently splayed across his desk. He turned in his chair and looked at his boyfriend, who was sitting on his bed. “What is it?”

“It’s bad.”

Mike’s breath hitched, his brain swimming with all the possible things Stan needed to tell him. “Just tell me.” He stood up and sat on the bed, wrapping an arm around Stan and pulling him into his chest. 

Stan pushed off slightly so he could turn his body, facing each other as he sat criss crossed in the middle of Mike’s spread legs. He bit his lip harshly, looking up at Mike. “It’s about the Ouija thing.”

Mike frowned. “I know you were scared of it, it’s okay, I get it.”

“That’s not it.” Stan shook his head.

“What’s wrong?” Mike’s eyebrows furrowed and he brought a hand up to cup Stan’s face, who leaned into the touch.

Stan licked his lips and looked away from Mike’s eyes. “I let go of it.”

“Hm?”

“The planchette. During the whole thing, I accidently took my fingers off.” A tear threatened to escape Stan’s eye.

“Oh, love.” Mike said softly, bringing his other hand up as well, successfully holding Stan’s face in his palms. “It’s okay. It’s just a silly thing.”

Stan shook his head furiously, his curls shaking. “You saw what happened! How Bill and Bev reacted.”

“I read an article on it once, a while ago, it’s all about what you  _want_  to happen. The power of suggestion, or something like that.”

“Mike, this is real.” Stan’s eyes were opened wide, almost perfectly circular. “You heard the rules.”

“I love you.” Mike placed a kiss on Stan’s forehead. “I do, but you’re being unreasonable. There’s rules, yeah, but there’s also rules to Bloody Mary! And to superstitions! It’s not all real."

“I just have this deep feeling in my gut, that I messed up. That something bad is going to happen.”

Mike removed his hands from Stan’s face, instead bringing up his pinky in front of Stan’s chest. “Hey, nothing bad is gonna happen. But if something does, I promise to be with you every step of the way, okay?”

Stan linked his pinky with Mike, letting their hands fall down into his lap. “Thank you.” He mumbled and leaned up to connect their lips.

“I’ll always,” Mike said, pushing forward to make Stan fall back on the bed and laid on top of him. “Always,” He nosed at Stan’s neck, placing kisses. “Always be there for you.”

Stan let out a content sigh, taking his arms and wrapping them around Mike’s neck, bringing him closer. “I love you.”

“I love you.” Mike kissed him, softly at first but with increasing passion. They moved as though they had been together their whole life, not only a year and a half. Wandering hands, soft sighs, strategically placed kisses, the slight movement of their bodies to elicit pleasure.

A bang on Mike’s window interrupted them, a gasp erupting from both of their mouths.

“What’s that?” Stan whispered.

Mike stood up, shifting his pants. “I’m sure it’s nothing.” He looked out the window, the field in the back of his house was lit with the setting sun, nothing out of the ordinary appeared to be there. Opening the window, he stuck his head out looking around.

“Careful, Mike.” Stan sat up on the bed.

Mike looked down and noticed a bird, dead on the ground in front of his window, it most likely created the disturbance by running into the glass. He grimaced and looked at the ground along the outside wall of the house, a few other birds lay in the grass, all of them seeming to be dead.

“What is it?” Stan asked, having heard Mike’s sound of slight distress.

He closed the window and turned. “It’s nothing, I couldn’t see anything.” He lied, knowing that his boyfriend had a fascination with birds and the fact that dead ones were outside the window might upset him.

Stan nodded and let out a small chuckle. “You’re right, I’m being paranoid.”

“How about we talk to Bev on Monday?” Mike suggested. “She said she has experience with this stuff and maybe she can…ease some of your concerns.”

“That’d be nice.” Stan smiled.

Mike smiled widely in return and pushed Stan back onto the bed. 

* * *

“Do you think I was harsh?” Bev paused the movie she and Ben were watching and turned to him.

“Do I what?” Ben asked, looking at her.

She turned towards him, Ben’s arm that was around her shoulder now falling down on the couch. “Was I harsh to Bill? You know, with the Ouija board? I just…I freaked out and I feel like I was harsh.”

“Well, um…” Ben hesitated, trying to find the words to express his opinion without seeming like he was against Bev.

“Be honest. I know you don’t mean any harm.”

“Here’s the thing,” Ben also turned his body, both of them sitting criss crossed on the couch and their knees pressed against each others’. “You had reason to freak out, absolute reason. Yes, you were yelling and screaming and maybe you could’ve been  _calmer_  when explaining the problem, but you knew there was an issue.”

Bev let out a groan. “He was just so  _stupid!_ Trying to talk to his brother!”

“Just remember. His brother was  _murdered_. It’s a bit traumatizing, don’t you think?”

She pursed her lips. “I mean,  _yeah_ , but this-”

“How about you, calmly, explain to Bill what he did wrong and apologize?” Ben reached over and grabbed her hands in his.

“He could’ve put us in real danger.”

“I know, honey, I know.” Ben squeezed her hands. “You’ve gotta tell him that.”

“But nicely.” Bev said, catching on.

Ben nodded and smiled, leaning over to place a kiss on her nose. “Most people don’t respond well to yelling.”

Bev smiled sheepishly. “I can be intense.”

“I know this and I love you.” They both giggled. “Now let’s finish our movie.”

Bev picked the remote up and pressed the ‘play’ button, but the screen didn’t budge. “Weird. The batteries must be running out.” She hit the remote against the palm of her hand, the default for when a remote doesn’t work, and tried again.

“I’ll just go find some batteries. I’m sure we have some in one of these drawers.” Ben stood up from the couch and went to the TV stand, opening the first drawer and rummaging through it.

Bev continued to hit the remote, she even took the batteries out and blew on them before putting them back in, but to no avail. “Damn, that always works.”

“Found some,” Ben turned around. “Don’t destroy the remote.”

She handed the remote over to him and he replaced the batteries quickly, pressing the play button. The screen went black and Ben looked down at the black box in his hand, eyebrows contorted in confusion.

“You pressed the wrong button!” Bev laughed.

“No, I didn’t.” Ben attempted to turn the TV back on.

“Maybe the batteries you put in were already dead.” Bev shrugged.

“They were in a new pack.” He pressed the button several times.

“Just turn it on manually.”

Ben nodded and walked to the TV, feeling around the back of it for the button and pressing it. Flashing colors and loud static flooded the room from the television, causing both Ben and Beverly to cover their ears.

“What the hell?” Ben exclaimed loudly as the screen flashed between different visuals, sometimes on different shots of the movie they were walking, sometimes random assortments of colors. The static was mixed in with a horrible screeching noise that made the hairs on Ben’s arm stick up.

“Turn it off!” Bev yelled over the sound, eyes squeezed shut.

Ben found the button again and pressed it multiple times, trying desperately to get the screen to go back to black. The noise seemed to be getting louder with each passing second, the picture flashing getting quicker until it all blended together into an obnoxiously colored screen. Ben knelt down, grabbing the plug of the TV and yanked it out harshly, the screen fading to black and the sound stopping immediately.

“What the hell was that?” Bev’s eyes snapped open and she stood up.

“I don’t know,” Ben spoke softly. “It must’ve just broken or something.”

“When have you seen a TV break like that?”

“Never but it’s technology, stuff happens.” He shrugged but continued looking at the television, running his hands along the screen and feeling the tickles of electricity. “I’ll tell my parents when they get home.”

Bev looked as if she wanted to argue, her mouth opening and shutting several times but only small noises coming out before she sighed. “Okay.”

“Let’s just go work on homework or something, don’t worry.” Ben crossed the room with large strides, wrapping his arms around Beverly and bringing her into a hug, her head falling into his chest. “I know what you’re thinking, but it’s just stupid technology.”

Before Bev could go to sleep that night, she went to the two televisions in her apartment and covered them with towels and tried desperately to ignore the sharp shocks that went through her body when she touched them.

* * *

Monday rolled by and by the time the friends got together at Richie’s house after school, Bill and Beverly were once again on speaking terms, having skipped their last period to go around back and smoke, talking out everything that had happened. 

“Bill and I talked about some interesting things earlier.” Bev said as she sat on the basement couch.

“About what? Your sex lives?” Richie asked with a grin.

“Or Bill’s lack of.” Stan quipped, and Richie let out a loud bark of laughter.

Bill glared over at the two of them. “Sorry there’s only seven of us and I couldn’t get paired off.”

“You don’t have to date within our friend group. What about that girl in our math class. Audra?” Eddie said.

“Audra Phillips? Oh, she’s beautiful.” Bev cooed. “Do you like her?”

Bill’s face flushed. “No! I don’t. Honestly, she’s pretty but I actually thought – you know what, we’re getting off topic.”

“Also, Bill had a chance to date both Beverly and Eddie.” Richie pointed out, wrapping his arm around Eddie protectively and placing a kiss on his cheek. “You lost out there.”

Eddie rolled his eyes. “We don’t mention that. It was  _one_ date.”

“It was disastrous.” Bill agreed. “But getting back to what Bev and I were talking about.”

“Was it your awkward middle school relationship?” Stan teased.

Bill took a deep breath, closing his eyes. He rubbed the tips of his fingers on his temple. “No, it wasn’t.”

Bev laughed. “Seriously, let Bill say what he needs to.”

“Thank you.” He smiled. “I want to apologize to everyone. For freaking out over the Ouija board thing and the… _Georgie incident_. I was…I wasn’t thinking and I’m sorry.”

“And I’m sorry as well. I yelled and screamed and got intense and Ben says I need to work on being less intense.” Bev looked over at her boyfriend who smiled sheepishly. “However, I do just need to point out something important.” She stood up and walked to where Bill was standing in front of everyone.

“I thought we were leaving this Ouija board thing behind.” Stan spoke quietly.

“Just one thing.” She promised. “I know we followed all the rules so there shouldn’t be a problem. But with Bill’s  _mishap_ , I just want to be safe.”

“Sorry.” Bill muttered.

“If anything weird happens, at all, we need to talk to each other, okay?”

“What do you mean weird.” Mike asked, thinking about the birds he saw outside his window.

“Ya know, just weird.” She shrugged. “Stuff that you don’t normally deal with. Seeing things, strange sounds, anything like that.”

Mike nodded and glanced at Stan, but didn’t say anything.

Richie went back to teasing Bill about his lack of significant other, pointing out that Eddie chose the boy with the title of “Trashmouth” over him, while Eddie scoffed and Bill huffed angrily. Ben pulled out a notebook from his backpack, determined to get some work done, despite everyone knowing that they couldn’t get anything done when they were all together.

Stan grabbed a hold of Mike’s hand and dragged him up the stairs towards the main floor of the house.

“Don’t go fucking anywhere in my home! Especially not my bed!” Richie yelled after them.

Stan stuck his middle finger up, despite being at the top of the stairs where Richie couldn’t see them.

“What’s wrong?” Mike asked, startled by the suddenness of his boyfriend.

“Should I tell Bev?” Stan seemed slightly panicked. “About the planchette thing?”

“She said everything’s gonna be fine.” Mike reached over and placed a hand on Stan’s shoulder. “I thought that would calm your nerves a little bit.”

“She said because we followed the rules, Mike. I broke one, remember?”

Mike chewed on his bottom lip, thinking their situation over. He sighed. “If that’ll make you feel better, then of course. Tell her.”

The side of Stan’s mouth twitched as his eyes glanced over the entirety of Mike’s face, looking for signs of unspoken words. “You don’t think I should, do you?”

“Stan -” Mike started but Stan interrupted him, the tone of his voice giving him away.

“Why don’t you want me to?”

Mike leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms, taking a deep breath. “I just think it’s silly, love."

“Silly?” Stan nearly screeched.

“Calm down.” Mike said, his voice smooth and calm, unwavering. “You know I support everything you do. I will always be there for you -”

“But not this time.” Stan finished for him.

Mike paused, collecting himself before continuing, trying everything in his power to prevent this from turning into a fight. “That’s not true. I support you now, too.”

“Then what?”

“I think we need to get passed this. It’s a game, it said ages eight and up on the box.”

“But I broke a rule.”

“Eight year olds are gonna break rules. Bev assured us that everything is fine. I don’t know what else you need. That’s all.” Mike said and Stan waited for him to say anything else, but he was finished.

“It would make me feel better, that’s all.” Stan said, copying Mike’s tone.

“Honey…” Mike reached out and tried to take Stan’s hand.

“Don’t.” Stan pulled both his hands to his chest. “I love you, but I need to leave.”

Stan walked down the stairs and Mike let out a frustrated groan, knowing that was the phrase his boyfriend said every time he was upset. He always reassured Mike that he loved him, neither of left a fight without reminding the other of that, but where Mike chose to talk things out, Stan preferred to leave and be on his own.

“I’m leaving.” Stan announced to the group, grabbing his bag and swinging it over his shoulder. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

“Are you okay?” Ben asked and the others seemed equally as concerned.

“I’m fine.” He said, careful not to look at Mike on his way up the stairs and out the door.

Stan felt his eyes stinging as he walked home, tears wanting to make their way onto his face. He clenched his jaw, trying desperately to stop them in their tracks. This was his fault, after all. In all their time together, Mike had never been anything but loving and supportive. He’d never even so much as raised his voice at Stan, despite the many times he probably should’ve. Stan felt as if he was always overreacting at the end of the day, and one day Mike was just going to get up and leave.

The tears made their way out at that thought. He loved Mike with all his heart. Since Mike joined their self-titled losers’ club of friends in middle school, he had been the positive and intelligence presence he always wanted. When Stan’s long-term girlfriend (long term by school standards, 1 year in middle school and a year and a half into high school), Patty, broke up with him, Mike was by his side through it all.

Stan blinked hard, trying to get the tears to stop. He wiped his eyes furiously and looked up, instantly becoming aware that he didn’t know where he was.

He had lived in Derry, Maine his entire life and was almost certain he had explored the vast majority of the town in his 18 years. But this place was dark. It seemed to be the beginning of a cement tunnel of sorts, the type that goes through mountains or under the water. It had a heavy presence to it and Stan looked around, trying to piece together where he was. Even looking back from where he came from, it was a simple gravel path that he couldn’t remember walking down.

A noise echoed from the pitch-black tunnel and Stan whipped his head around. “Hello?” He breathed out. He took a cautious step forward, careful to not actually walk into the tunnel but close enough so he could see just inside, where the walls were illuminated by the outside light.

He felt his heartbeat quickening and his palms began to sweat. When another noise never came, even after Stan called out several times, he turned on his heel, determined to find his way back home. The minute he turned his back, there was another noise. This time it sounded like his name.

“Who’s there?” Stan shouted, walking backwards away from the tunnel. He could see movement in the darkness. “I’m armed!” He lied.

“Stan!” His boyfriend walked out of the darkness, stepping just inside the light, not actually leaving the cement walls. “What are you doing?”

“Mike?” Stan’s voice wavered. “Wh-what the hell are you doing here?”

“I followed you.” He said. “C’mere.”

Stan began walking forward. “I don’t understand.”

“Come here.”  He repeated, his voice clearer this time and more firm. “You know I hate fighting with you.”

“I’m sorry.” Stan stopped right in front of the tunnel, he was only a mere foot in front of him. “But why are you in this tunnel. What is this?”

“What do you mean? I followed  _you_ here, silly.” His boyfriend smiled.

Stan shook his head. “I don’t like it.” He reached his arm out to him, but didn’t move forward. “Let’s go back to my house and talk.”

“We can talk here, love.” His face looked kind and soft, like always, but something in his voice made Stan shiver.

“Mike, I really don’t like it here.”

“I’ll protect you, don’t worry.” He took his outstretched hand and pulled Stan closer.

Stan looked down at the ground, his feet barely moving, the shadow of the top of the tunnel getting dangerously close to him. “I don’t want to go in there.” He said firmly.

“Come on.” The other man’s voice seemed irritated, raising to a volume level Stan hadn’t ever heard directed at him.

Stan’s eyes widened and he tried to snatch his hand back to his chest, but the man in front of him had a tight grip. “You’re not Mike.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m your boyfriend, I love you and I just want to talk.” He said through gritted teeth, ending with a clearly forced smile.

“No.” Stan said and tried to step back but the man grabbed onto his other hand. “I don’t know who you are but you’re not him.”

“Come.”

Stan was being pulled closer and closer until he watched his feet finally cross over into the tunnel, the air becoming several degrees colder and much thicker. “No!” He screamed and turned his head back. “Help!”

“Shut up!” The man yelled at him and let go of one of his hands to grab Stan’s face, squeezing it painfully.

Stan’s whimpered, tears spilling from his eyes. “What are you doing?” Pain was blooming in his jaw from the firm grip. The man in front of him was identical to Mike, right up to the immense strength he knew his boyfriend had from working on his farm and playing football.

“Be quiet, you little bitch, you practically asked for this.” He used his grip on Stan to shove him down to the cold ground, Stan letting out a pained scream as his head hit the cement. “You let go off the planchette after all.”

Realization swarmed in Stan’s brain and he let out another scream, mixed with the sobs coming out of his body. “No! I’m sorry, please, leave me alone!”

The man got down on his knees, grabbing Stan’s hands and holding them on either side of his head, caging the boy in, and leaned in slightly. “Don’t worry, this won’t hurt you at all.” He laughed.

Stan watched as his eyes flashed yellow and his teeth turned from white and straight, to jagged and browning. Stan tried desperately to push the man off of him, but to no avail. He wiggled his body, trying to break free. “HELP!” He screamed again.

The man leaned in further and as skin pressed to skin, Stan’s vision went black.

**Author's Note:**

> this was supposed to be done in time for halloween but it's not so i'm officially extending the halloween season into november


End file.
